In a content delivery network (CDN), a content provider typically has a group of files or content library which they wish to make available for retrieval to a geographically distributed set of end users, typically by download or streaming protocols. A content delivery provider provisions these files to multiple computers or “edge nodes” over a network, such as the Internet, so that for many users there is a download or streaming location which can be physically closer to the users. The download or streaming location may also provide lower network latency or have higher capacity than the original location where the content provider's files are stored.
Rapid provisioning of these files to many locations is one problem faced by CDNs. Also, many CDNs are structured in a sparsely connected mesh, where several files to be provisioned on the edge nodes are first provisioned on one of a smaller number of servers. These servers may not be near the content library's original storage location.